Thanks to the expansion of portable communication device such as tablet computers, laptops and smart phones, today a lot of people have access to Internet via a wireless connection, in particular via a local area network implemented within a home or a business environment. The wireless access to a local area network makes it necessary to develop a security policy regarding business places and home places. If the access to the wireless point is not secure enough, it could result a problem regarding the legal responsibility of the access point owner when a third party performs illegal actions on a network, such as the Internet, through such an access point. Illegal actions can refer, e.g., to downloading or disseminating unauthorized copies of works protected by copyright, such as music, photo and videos.
The access to a local area network is protected by a transmission key which encrypts the data transmitted within this network, for instance between a personal computer and an access point such as a router. Physically, the router defines the juncture between the local area network (LAN) or a wireless local area network (WLAN) and the World Wide Web (Internet) or any other second network. If the transmission key is shared with another communication device (e.g. a host computer) within the range of the signal emitted by the router, then this communication device will have access to Internet through the LAN. Thus, granting the access to a LAN/WLAN depends on the transmission key. To provide an efficient protection against malicious persons, this transmission key must comprises a large number of various characters (prints) forming a string which is not easy to deduce. However, and particularly within a home environment, such a string is generally a short alphanumeric string, since securing the access to the network with a strong transmission key is cumbersome, in particular each time this key must be entered in a host device of a visitor. On the other hand, an efficient and strong key is generally much more difficult to remember. Consequently, the user frequently writes the transmission key in a hand-written notebook. However, these solutions do not meet the initial security goals sought by the transmission key which becomes immediately readable to any person having access to such a notebook.
Besides, entering a transmission key into a host computer is generally made in the presence of the owner of the host electronic device. Accordingly, there is still a risk that this person is able to remember the key which could then be transmitted to other person without any control from the proprietor of the LAN.
Therefore, there is a need for improving the management of transmission keys required for granting access to a network, in particular to a LAN within a home or business environment.